Showing Up Is Our Power

We have been and are feeling, thinking, and experiencing a lot this week. We were grateful to have co-sponsored the San Luis Obispo School District’s first Parent Night for Parents of Teens and were warmed by the turn-out. We are grateful for each other, our families, and our school community. We are also feeling fortunate for the long weekend ahead.

We wanted to recap the Parent Night for those of you who could not attend, but life is messy and plans change. We will share some of Gina Biegel’s resources with you next week, as we came away with many takeaways, questions, and thoughts. For now, we share her latest book, Be Mindful and Stress Less: 50 Ways to Deal with Your (Crazy) Life, which came out last week!

Gina reminded all of us that the heart pumps blood to itself first before it can take care of the other organs in the body because that is what it needs to do to survive. As busy parents, we need to remind ourselves that practicing self-care is not the same as being selfish. Self-care is essential to our quality of life! She talked about mindfulness, neuroplasticity, and positive coping skills as tools for relieving, managing, and preventing stress. Most importantly, she reminded us to care for ourselves, in the ways that we care for our family and friends. And, when we trip and fall, what will we say to ourselves as we get back up?

Manifesto Of The Brave And Brokenhearted:

There is no greater threat to the critics and cynics and fearmongers

Than those of us who are willing to fall

Because we have learned how to rise

With skinned knees and bruised hearts;

We choose owning our stories of struggle,

Over hiding, over hustling, over pretending.

When we deny our stories, they define us.

When we run from struggle, we are never free.

So we turn toward truth and look it in the eye.

We will not be characters in our stories.

Not villains, not victims, not even heroes.

We are the authors of our lives.

We write our own daring endings.

We craft love from heartbreak,

Compassion from shame,

Grace from disappointment,

Courage from failure.

Showing up is our power.

Story is our way home.

Truth is our song.

We are the brave and brokenhearted.

We are rising strong.

(Excerpt from Brene Brown’s Rising Strong, 2015)

Think of the simple daily things we do for (and give to) others and do them for yourself— no expensive treatments, remote retreats, or luxury vacations needed.